Saturday, February 15, 2014

Welcome to the second reveal of our February challenge! We love the entries so far! Some amazing and talented people out there :) We cant wait to see more.

Please please please remember to stick to the theme and to add some journalling. We unfortunately had to disqualify some VERY beautiful entries because we could not find ANY mention of ANY journalling. As I mention below PLEASE feel free to journal in your language (we encourage that) and please feel free to include HIDDEN journalling but please do tell us in your blog post where your journalling is . Please try and also tell us how you interpret the theme. Sometimes we look at some of the entries and have NOTHING to do with our theme...

On a last note, as I have mentioned before you are allowed to combine your OUAS entry with as many others as you like. But please do note that our sketch is compulsory and we noticed some people in January combined our challenge with another sketch challenge which kind of doesn't make sense. LOL! Unless the 2 sketches are identical then I cannot see how 2 sketch challenges can be combined. Thank you for your understanding :)

Good luck with February;s challenge. Remember this is a short month! Only 28 days :)

Journalling Theme: "Totally addicted to...."

You are free to interpret our theme ANY WAY you like. It is for your inspiration and this theme word DOES NOT need to be part of your title or journalling. But please make sure your layoutis based on the sketch below and includes journalling (hidden journalling is fine). Acceptable journalling is MORE than just a sentence, or generic writing such as date/place etc. It needs to be present and at least 3 lines long. Remember, hidden journalling (under a photo/tag or behind your page) is perfectly fine but please DO let us know in your post where your journalling is!

Now here is what our Design Team came up with. Please click on their blogs for more details on their creations. I am sure they would love to hear from you !!!

The winner of this challenge, as voted by the Design Team will be invited to come back in April as our Guest Designer.

They will also win the main prize from our main sponsor for February which is..

Whichcraft do you do? Whichcraft offers unique laser cut wooden embellishments and items to alter. Based in Australia, Whichcraft started as a hobby for Kerry and has now progressed to a zibbet store, youtube channel and facebook page. New designs and product developement are ongoing so there is always something new coming out. Stock is kept on hand so orders are packed and shipped quickly and efficiently and Kerry's customer service is second to none! Offering some custom cutting and flat rate international shipping worldwide Whichcraft has something for you, no matter Whichcraft you do!

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Its time to announce the winners of our January challenge. As you might recall we had over 130 entries and I firstoly wish to thank you all again for playing along with us. I also want to thank the Design Team for taking this seriously because it was an incredible job and they really do all the voting , commenting etc without any real compensation other than that they wish to acknowledge the fact you all have played along and just how much we love to see your entries. So yes, they went through all the entries and it was VERY hard !

We have , nonetheless, our winners and a huge congrats goes to them :)

So here they are..

1. Zuziucha (Poland)

Well done! You are the winner of our challenge. You have won the prize from our main sponsor this month, which is AUS$40.00 prize pack with free postage byWhitch Craft. Please contact Kerry Fellowes at kerryafellowes@bigpond.com and state OUAS JANUARY WINNER in the subject field to claim your prize. . You are also invited to come back in March as our Guest Designer. Please contact me, Nadia, at nadiac78@hotmail.com for all the information on that.

2. Dorota Dolega (France)

Congratulations! You have won a 7 Dots Studio prize pack full of their product valued at US$50.00 with free domestic and international postage. Please contact Tusia at tusia@7dotsstudio.com and please write "OUAS WINNER" in the subject field to claim your prize.

3. Tina Ollett

How awesome! You have also won a US$50.00 gift voucher by The Flying Unicorn to spend at their store ! Please contact Alda Stevens at cs@flyingunicornllc.com to claim your prize. Please write "OUAS WINNER" in the subject field.

4. Beck Beattie (Australia)

Congrats! You have won a AUS$50.00 prize pack from 2Crafty Chipboard ! Please contact Vanessa at salesat2crafty@optusnet.com.au and please write "OUAS WINNER" in the subject field to claim your prize.

5. Anita Nosova (Russia)

Congratulations!!! You have won a kit from Swirlydoos kit club i valued at US$36.50 with free domestic and international postage. Please contact Krissy at krissy@swirlydoos.com and please write ÖUAS WINNER" in the subject field to claim your prize.

6. Smilla

Well done to you! You have won a Die-namites dies prize pack to the value of US$30.00 with free domestic and international postage. Please contact Lynne Forsythe at rangerjunkie@rocketmail.com to claim your prize. Please write ÖUAS WINNER" in the subject field.

7. Teeshoom

How cool! You have won a gift voucher fromLindy's Stamp Gang valued at US$20.00 gift voucher with free domestic and international shipping. Please contact Tracey at lindysgang@yahoo.com and please write "Once Upon A..Sketch WINNER" in the subject field to claim your prize.

8. Marta (Maremi)

Congrats! You have won a prize pack to the value of AU$20.00 with free domestic and international postage from Scrappers Garden online store . Please contact Linda at scrappersgarden@bigpond.com to claim your prize. Please write "OUAS WINNER" in the subject field.

9. Danisa G

Well done!! You have won yourself aWiff Of Joy stamp set from the Stephanie Schütze Designcollection valued at EUR14.90 with free domestic AND international postage. Please contact Katharina at order@whiffofjoy.ch to claim your prize. Please write "OUAS WINNER"in the subject field.

Saturday, February 1, 2014

Our team here and I are immensely honoured that so many of you participated in our January challenge. What a boost of confidence for our brand new team and for me. What a way to start a new year. I have said this before.. there have been times when my life is so crazy busy that I have wondered "Maybe its time for OUAS to go?".. But every time I talk myself out of it because of all of you that continue to play along with us. I have talked myself out of it because somehow I end up with the best and most reliable Design Team out there and part of our current Design Team include Tracey Sabella, Val Thorpe and Lizzy Hill who have most definitely gone above and beyond to fill in for me behind the scenes when life gets super busy! I could not do this without them, or with the amazing sponsors .. SO A BIG THANKS to you all.

Stay tuned for our January winners who will be revealed all too soon. The Design Team will SOMEHOW try and figure out some winners from our 139 entries... :)

Just on a side note.. please please please remember to stick to the theme and to add some journalling. We unfortunately had to disqualify some VERY beautiful entries because we could not find ANY mention of ANY journalling. As I mention below PLEASE feel free to journal in your language (we encourage that) and please feel free to include HIDDEN journalling but please do tell us in your blog post where your journalling is . Please try and also tell us how you interpret the theme. Sometimes we look at some of the entries and have NOTHING to do with our theme...

On a last note, as I have mentioned before you are allowed to combine your OUAS entry with as many others as you like. But please do note that our sketch is compulsory and we noticed some people in January combined our challenge with another sketch challenge which kind of doesn't make sense. LOL! Unless the 2 sketches are identical then I cannot see how 2 sketch challenges can be combined. Thank you for your understanding :)

Good luck with February;s challenge. Remember this is a short month! Only 28 days :)

Journalling Theme: "Totally addicted to...."

You are free to interpret our theme ANY WAY you like. It is for your inspiration and this theme word DOES NOT need to be part of your title or journalling. But please make sure your layoutis based on the sketch below and includes journalling (hidden journalling is fine). Acceptable journalling is MORE than just a sentence, or generic writing such as date/place etc. It needs to be present and at least 3 lines long. Remember, hidden journalling (under a photo/tag or behind your page) is perfectly fine but please DO let us know in your post where your journalling is!

Please help me welcome the winner of our December challenge , the very inspirational ..

Lisa Griffith (USA)

My name is Lisa Griffith and I live in the US with my hubby and our son. I love a lot of textures on my layouts and I love working with paints and inks. I have a passion for antiques and anything vintage, I am always rummaging around thrift shops and estate sales looking for old books, magazines, postcards, lace, anything I can incorporate into my work. I really enjoyed this months theme, paper crafting is so rewarding and relaxing to me, and definitely addicting! It's so fun to take an idea or an emotion, bits of paper and glue and create something unique.

The winner of this challenge, as voted by the Design Team will be invited to come back in April as our Guest Designer.

They will also win the main prize from our main sponsor for February which is..

Whichcraft do you do? Whichcraft offers unique laser cut wooden embellishments and items to alter. Based in Australia, Whichcraft started as a hobby for Kerry and has now progressed to a zibbet store, youtube channel and facebook page. New designs and product developement are ongoing so there is always something new coming out. Stock is kept on hand so orders are packed and shipped quickly and efficiently and Kerry's customer service is second to none! Offering some custom cutting and flat rate international shipping worldwide Whichcraft has something for you, no matter Whichcraft you do!

Our Permanent 2014 Sponsors. Please support them where you can

2 Crafty strives to offer affordable and versatile laser cut chipboard products to the Australian and International Craft market.2Crafty’s products are manufactured here in Australia and offer products suitable for scrapbooking, cardmaking, altered art, invitations and mixed media, and with well over 800 designs, every area has been covered.2Crafty designs are supported both locally and in the overseas market and Vanessa strives to offer the highest level of customer support, and is happy to discuss personalized orders with customers via their local scrapbooking store.2Crafty also offers a fabulous blog and Facebook page that is updated weekly with projects created from its wonderful Design Team with both local and international designers. Please click on the image to be directed to their website.

7Dots Studio

7 Dots Studio was born from dreams and for dreams. We are a European scrapbooking company. Quality of our products is our top priority. Our collections are created by very talented artists - from clean, graphic designs to mixed-media, grungy collage look. But what you can always be sure are high quality and thickness of our papers, which make them work perfectly with all kinds of media. Among our products you will find scrapbooking papers, alpha stickers, die-cut elements, collage sheets, 6x6 paper pads, element stickers and tags. We are amazingly happy and feel very blessed to see that so many crafters and artists love our designs! Please visit our blog to see awesome inspirations from our design team and our facebook profile or flickr gallery to share your projects. Please click on the image to be directed to their website

The Flying Unicorn Online store

Flying Unicorn.. it’s about One of a Kind. We offer an incredible selection of products for all paper crafting artists. Our Kit of the Month if filled with the latest and greatest and includes an off the page project to keep your creative muse flowing! Our forums, a hot and happening place which includes monthly challenges, tips, techniques and friendships that last! Please click on image to be directed to the website.

13arts

13 arts - Polish company created by Aida Domisiewcz aka Ayeeda. We provide original scrapbooking papers and mixed media products: water inks, pearl and chalk mists, water paints, many types of microspheres, acrylic mediums. We constantly work on new products to give you best scrapbooking and mixed media supplies for your artwork. Please visit our online shop (we ship internationally). Please click on the image to be directed to their website

Scrapbook Fantasies online store

Scrapbook Fantasies (www.scrapbookfantasies.com.au) is a Scrapbooking, Papercrafts and Mixed Media retailer that opened in November 2002 in Gladstone, Queensland. The well stocked store receives new stock daily, and supports a boutique style online store. The owner Alicia runs Weekly Challenges and many other competitions giving away 100’s of prizes and vouchers every year. The GALLERY hosts thousands of customer creations, and is available for viewing without login. Parcels are posted within Australia $8 flat rate. International parcels are posted at the actual postage rate. Please click on the image above to be directed to our website

Wiff Of Joy stamps

Whiff of Joy, known for it's high quality rubber stamps, supporting your creative tooth for 5 years. During this time, our product variety has grown. Metal dies, paperflowers, ribbon paper...Whiff of Joy became a one stop shopping boutique. Not to mention the great customer service and fair prices. Have a look at our range - there is something for everyone.Please click on the image to be directed to their website

Lindy's Stamp Gang

Lindy’s Stamp Gang offers a large variety in products, from Stamps to Sprays and Stains to Embossing Powders and Mica Powders. Tracey does a tremendous job filling orders, shipping as quickly as possible, and listening to her customers. You can find Lindy’s Stamp Gang on FaceBook, Twitter, Pinterest and Blogger! Please click on the image to be directed to their website

Die-namites Dies

Die~Namites Dies exploded onto the market in 2013. Our thin metal dies are made in America, and are compatible with most die-cutting machines on the market today. Die-Namites dies will cut cardstock, patterned paper, fun foam, wool blend felts, craft foils, handmade papers and MORE!! Shimming may be required for some thicker materials, just add one at a time and test frequently. Stop by our blog, to see what the Design Team is up to, whether it’s playing along with the monthly Die~Namites Sketch Challenge and Dare, working on a card, or sharing a Mixed Media project.